Innovative end caps for ic tray

ABSTRACT

An innovative end cap for IC trays includes a bottom and side walls. The side walls extend upwardly from the bottom and form a tray-accommodating space. The innovative end cap includes a plurality of buffering ribs and buffering grooves on its surfaces. The buffering ribs and buffering grooves arranged on the end cap can fully absorb, disperse and transfer the impact energy generated during testing, storage, collision and shock of the trays which accommodate the precision semiconductor components therein, and increase impact strength and anti-dropping damage ability of the end cap. Therefore, the innovative end cap with the buffering ribs and buffering grooves can not only protect the trays and extend the service lifetime of the trays, but also give better protection to the precision semiconductor components such as Chips, IC etc in the trays.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention refers to semiconductors and microelectronics technologies, and particularly relates to innovative end caps for IC trays.

DESCRIPTION OF BACKGROUND

Currently, plastic IC trays are widely used for the storage and transportation of semiconductor components such as Chip, IC etc in semiconductor and electronic industries. Due to the limitations of the inherent behavior of plastic materials or structure of the trays, however, the mechanical strength of the trays cannot sometimes meet the requirement of protecting the precision semiconductor components completely from damage during storage and transportation of the precision semiconductor components, especially when IC is enough heavy. In addition, the tray damage caused by accidental drops will result in the damage of the precision semiconductor components. Meanwhile, this would also reduce the service lifetime of the trays and bring cost pressures. The innovative end caps for plastic IC tray provide a feasible solution.

FIG. 1 shows two traditional end caps for IC trays. The precision semiconductor components are placed in the grid slots of the trays A, and multiple trays A can be stacked together. The end caps B for tray are respectively installed at opposite sides of the stacked trays A, for being stored and transported together with the stacked trays A. The end caps B for tray are simple in structure, and each comprises a bottom and side walls extending upward from the bottom so that the end cap B for tray is shaped like a box with one end thereof opened. On the bottom and the side walls of the traditional end caps B for tray, only some slots or protrusions are provided, for the purpose of package.

The traditional end caps for IC tray can give some protection to the trays during storage and transportation for reducing the damage of the trays, and thus protect the precision semiconductor components placed in the trays to a certain extent. Due to the design limitations, however, the traditional end caps can not effectively transfer and disperse the impact stress when the trays with IC are stricken, and cannot completely protect the end caps, trays and the precision semiconductor components from the damages due to accidental drops and collision.

SUMMARY

The present invention is to provide an innovative end cap for IC trays, having excellent impact resistance and anti-dropping damage ability.

An innovative end cap for IC trays comprises a bottom and side walls. The side walls extend upwardly from the bottom and form a tray-accommodating space. The innovative end cap comprises a plurality of buffering ribs on outer surfaces and buffering grooves on inner surfaces thereof.

Furthermore, the buffering ribs include a plurality of primary buffering ribs, secondary buffering ribs and tertiary buffering ribs. The primary buffering ribs are protruded from the outer surface of the corresponding side wall.

Furthermore, lower edges of the primary buffering ribs are protruded out of the outer surface of the bottom.

Furthermore, some protruded bottom ribs are located on the outer surface of bottom and connect bottom edges of the primary buffering ribs.

Furthermore, the innovative end cap has a polygonal cross-section, and the secondary buffering ribs are formed in the corner and called the corner buffering ribs.

Furthermore, the other buffering ribs are a plurality of tertiary buffering ribs protruded from the inner surface of the bottom and placed in the ends of the bottom.

Furthermore, the innovative end cap defines a plurality of buffering grooves in an inner surface thereof.

Furthermore, the innovative end cap has a polygonal cross-section, and the plurality of buffering grooves includes three types of buffering grooves. Type one is the buffering grooves defined at the junctions of the side walls and dented from the inner corners of the sidewalls.

Furthermore, type two is the buffering grooves defined in the bottom and dented from the inner surface of the bottom.

Furthermore, type three is the buffering grooves defined in the side walls and dented from the inner surfaces of the side walls.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded, isometric view of two traditional end caps for trays and stacked trays.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the innovative end cap for trays in accordance with a first embodiment of the application.

FIG. 3 is another isometric view of the end cap for trays as shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the innovative end cap for trays in accordance with a second embodiment of the application.

FIG. 5 is another isometric view of the end cap for trays as shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of the innovative end cap for trays in accordance with a third embodiment of the application.

FIG. 7 is another isometric view of the end cap for trays as shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is an exploded, isometric view of two innovative end caps for trays as shown in FIG. 2 and stacked trays.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that the following descriptions of preferred embodiments of this invention are presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed.

Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, an innovative end cap for IC trays of a first embodiment of the present application is illustrated, which can be used to place, store and transport semiconductors, micro-electronic chips and silicon wafers, and so on. The end cap of this embodiment comprises a bottom 1 and side walls 2 extending upward from the bottom 1, and defines a tray-accommodating space. The end cap of this embodiment comprises a plurality of buffering ribs on touchable surfaces thereof.

Specifically, the buffering ribs include a plurality of primary buffering ribs 31, secondary buffering ribs 32, and a plurality of tertiary buffering ribs 33. The primary buffering ribs 31 are protruded from the outer surface of the side walls 2, being strip-shaped or curve-shaped. The primary buffering ribs 31 can be parallel to each other or not. Upper edges of the primary buffering ribs 31 can be as high as an upper edge of the corresponding side wall 2, or higher or lower than the upper edge of the corresponding side wall 2. Lower edges of the primary buffering ribs 31 are as low as or protruded out of the outer surface of the bottom 1. In the first embodiment, the cross-sections of the primary buffering ribs 31 can be of various shapes, such as circle, polygon, etc. In this embodiment, the cross-sections of the primary buffering ribs 31 are in shape of square. The secondary buffering ribs 32 are respectively protruded from the outer corners of the side walls 2. The tertiary buffering ribs 33 are protruded from the inner surface and the two ends of the bottom 1.

In the first embodiment, the buffering ribs arranged on the end cap can fully absorb, disperse and transfer the impact energy generated during testing, storage, collision and shock of the trays which accommodate precision semiconductor components therein, and increase impact strength and anti-dropping damage ability of the end cap. Therefore, the end cap with the buffering ribs can not only protect the trays and extend the service lifetime of the trays, but also give better protection to the precision semiconductor components in the trays. Summarily, the end cap for tray of the embodiment is simple in structure but practical in use.

Another method to enhance the anti-impact ability of the end cap for IC trays is that a plurality of buffering grooves is defined in the inner surface of the end cap. The buffering grooves have three types. Type one is the buffering grooves 41 and Type two is the buffering grooves 42. Type one of buffer grooves 41 is respectively defined at the junctions of the side walls 2 and dented from the inner surfaces of the sidewalls 2. Type two of the buffering grooves 42 are defined in the bottom 1, and dented from the inner surface of the bottom 1.

Referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, an innovative end cap for IC trays of a second embodiment of the present application is illustrated. The end cap in the second embodiment is similar to the end cap in the first embodiment. The main difference of the end cap in the second embodiment from the end cap in the first embodiment is described in detail as follows. In the second embodiment, the primary buffering ribs 31′ are different in shape comparing with the primary buffering ribs 31, and the secondary buffering ribs 32′ are different in shape comparing with the secondary buffering ribs 32. In the second embodiment, cross-sections of the primary buffering ribs 31′ and the secondary buffering ribs 32′ are curved, such as in shape of semi-circle or sinusoidal wave. The primary buffering ribs 31′ each are of arc transition to the corresponding side wall 2. Additionally, the bottom ends of the primary buffering ribs 31′ are protruded out of the outer surface of the bottom 1′, and the protruded parts are connected to the outer surface of the bottom 1′ through a cambered surface. Furthermore, in the second embodiment, the buffering grooves have Type three of the buffering grooves 43. Type three of the buffering grooves 43 is defined in the side walls 2′, and dented from the inner surfaces of the side walls 2′.

Referring to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, an innovative end cap for trays of a third embodiment of the present application is illustrated. The end cap in the third embodiment is similar to the end cap in the second embodiment. The main difference of the end cap in the third embodiment from the end cap in the second embodiment is described in detail as follows. In the third embodiment, bottom ribs 34 are placed on the outer surface of the bottom 1′ to connect bottom edges of the primary buffering ribs 31′. The bottom ribs 34 are protruded from the outer surface of the bottom 1′, and connected to the outer surface of the bottom 1′ through a cambered surface.

Understandably, the buffering ribs and the buffering grooves arranged on the side walls, bottom and the junctions of the side walls, can greatly improve the mechanical strength and anti-impact ability of the end cap. In other embodiments, the buffering ribs and the buffering grooves can be mutually combined or exchanged according to the practical requirements, for the purpose of fully absorbing the external impact stress exerted on the tray and reinforcing the strength of the end cap.

Compared FIG. 8 with FIG. 1, the end cap with a plurality of buffering ribs and buffering grooves on the side walls, bottom and junctions of the side walls, would not affect the actual volume of the end cap and therefore the innovative end cap can not only be used in the trays with high impact requirements, but also replace the traditional end cap in the normal application areas of trays. The end caps B′ disclosed in the second embodiment are exemplarily installed at opposite sides of the stacked trays A, for being stored and transported together with the stacked trays A. It is can be seen that the end cap of this application is in the same usage for package the trays, but its impact resistance has enhanced greatly.

While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An innovative end cap for IC trays comprising a bottom and side walls, the side walls extending upwardly from the bottom and forming a tray-accommodating space like an uncover box, the innovative end cap comprising a plurality of buffering ribs on touchable surfaces thereof.
 2. The innovative end cap for IC trays as described in claim 1, wherein the plurality of buffering ribs comprise a plurality of primary buffering ribs, secondary buffering ribs and tertiary buffering ribs, and wherein the plurality of primary buffering ribs is protruded from an outer surface of the corresponding side wall.
 3. The innovative end cap for IC trays as described in claim 2, wherein lower edges of the plurality of primary buffering ribs are protruded out of an outer surface of the bottom.
 4. The innovative end cap for IC trays as described in claim 1, wherein the bottom has bottom ribs on an outer surface thereof, the bottom ribs connect bottom edges of the plurality of primary buffering ribs.
 5. The innovative end cap for IC trays as described in claims 2, wherein the innovative end cap has a polygonal cross-section, and the secondary buffering ribs are formed on the outer sides of junctions of the side walls.
 6. The innovative end cap for IC trays as described in claim 2, wherein the tertiary buffering ribs are protruded from an inner surface and the two ends of the bottom.
 7. The innovative end cap for IC trays as described in claim 1, wherein the end cap defines a plurality of buffering grooves in an inner surfaces thereof.
 8. The innovative end cap for IC trays as described in claim 7, wherein the innovative end cap has a polygonal cross-section, and the plurality of buffering grooves is defined at the junctions of the side walls and dented from the inner surface of the side walls.
 9. The innovative end cap for IC trays as described in claim 7, wherein the plurality of buffering grooves is defined in the bottom and dented from the inner surface of the bottom.
 10. The innovative end cap for IC trays as described in claim 7, wherein the plurality of buffering grooves is defined in the side walls and dented from the inner surfaces of the side walls.
 11. The innovative end cap for IC trays as described in claim 1, wherein the innovative end cap has a polygonal cross-section, and the plurality of buffering ribs comprise several secondary buffering ribs formed on the outer sides of junctions of the side walls. 